Starting Up a Poultry Farm; Important Tips

Poultry farming has become one of the most important aspects of agriculture in Nigeria, because of its profitability.

With the recent global burst in population and a worldwide demand for food, people are now beginning to realize the potential of providing the most important basic need of man.

Poultry farming requires having the right knowledge to get the right result. It requires hard work and prompt attention to details.

In starting up a poultry farm the following are considered;

 

SELECTION OF BIRD AND AREA OF INTEREST

First is to decide on the area one would want to specialize on. There are basically three types of chickens. They are:

The pullets popularly known as Layers: Layers are reared for egg production and most lucrative but more stressing compare to the other once.

The Broiler Chicken: Broilers are reared for meat production; The Broilers grows very faster and are ready for sale at 12 weeks from hatch.

The third is the cockerel: This is also reared for meat production. . Cockerels grow slower and can take up to twenty four weeks before they are matured for marketing.

Cockerels are reliable in terms of survival and withstanding bad weathers. They are more resilient, and can absorb shocks far better than Layers and Broilers.

START UP CAPITAL INVESTMENT

Poultry farming is capital intensive; depending on the scale, location of farm and the type of management technology used. Like every other farming project, the bigger you plan to start the more investment required, scale is directly proportional to capital.

POULTRY LOCATION

A good location is vital to the success and profitability of a poultry farm. An ideal poultry farm should be sited where there’s a large availability of cheap land and at the same time, it should be close to areas with high population density.

A location in a very remote rural area will cost far less than that of an urban area.

It’s not advisable to site a poultry farm within a residential area because of the offensive odour it produces.

Poultry housing system determines up to 40% of the rate of success one would achieve in poultry farming. A good housing system is very important for a poultry farm.

 

The housing systems commonly used in poultry farming are-:

• Extensive system: Range and fold unit
• Semi Intensive system: Standard semi intensive unit and straw yard
• Intensive system: i. Deep litter, ii. Wire and slated floor, iii. Straw yard, iv. Battery cage

The following equipment’s are required for a poultry farm:

• Feeders
• Drinkers
• Perches
• Nests
• Crates
• Lighting system
• Waste disposal system
• Incubator
• Heaters or brooders
• Egg tray
• Cages and coops

FEEDING

Feeding is a major aspect of poultry farming. In fact, about 70% of expenses go to poultry feeding. There are two ways to go about feeding in poultry farming:

• Producing your feeds by yourself
• Buying already-made poultry feeds

For large commercial poultry farms producing feeds is advisable because it helps save a lot on feeding costs.

  

HEALTH

The birds need proper vaccines and medications to prevent diseases and promote growth.

MARKETING

Another factor to give consideration to is the marketing aspect of the poultry business.. Employing the right marketing techniques would help reach out costumers. Therefore, before starting a poultry business, marketing strategies which you would use to break into the market should be considered.

The target market for poultry are, restaurants, hotels, homes, bars, market, eateries etc.

NOTE: Most layers will start laying eggs the moment they are 18 weeks old but some wait till they are about 22 weeks old. Whichever way, Layer farming is considered the most lucrative of all poultry farming because two things are acquired from layers, they lay eggs which fetch good money in the market, and are equally sold for the meat.

A full crate of pullet eggs sells for about N600, while a crate of semi-pullet sells for N750 wholesale price. If your Layers are large enough to produce 10,000 crates of large eggs which sells for N750, you will be making at least N750 X 10,000 = N7, 500,000 From eggs alone!

The chickens is also another big gain! A fully grown chicken sells for between N1,500 and N2,500 (N1,500 to N2,000 at wholesale price) depending on the size and maturity level. Therefore, ten thousand chickens will give you N1, 500 x 10,000 = N15,000,000!